Stocking and method of producing same



April 1952 c. w. LIVINGSTON 2,591,566

STOCKING AND METHQD OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Nov. 20, 1951 INVENTOR OYR\L N- vmes'r n R'NEY Patented Apr. 1, 1952 2,591,566 STOCKING AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Cyril W. Livingston, New Sanson Hosiery Mills,

York, N. Y., assignor to Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.,

a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 20, 1951,

8 Claims.

This invention relates generally to hosiery and more particularly to certain improvements in the construction of women's hosiery produced from synthetic yarn, such as nylon.

Among the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a knitted stocking having increased course-wise elasticity throughout its full length to thereby better and more neatly fit it upon the leg of, the wearer, this primary objective being attained by permanently setting the interknitted loops of the stocking fabric in such manner and to such shape that their resistance to coursewise stretch is materially increased while at the same time they tend constantly to contract the stocking into form to snugly fit the wearers leg.

The objectives of the present invention are accomplished, as will be pointed out more fully hereinafter, by permanentizing the individual interknitted loops of stockings knitted of synthetic linear condensation polyamide fibers or yarns, such as those well known today as nylon, into a setform so as to utilize to best possible advantage the inherent superior bending elasticity of such synthetic fibers or yarns.

Stockings knitted and finished in accordance with conventional practice, whether they be made of cotton, silk, or any of the synthetic yarns, such as rayon and nylon, all have the tendency to enlarge in diameter and shorten in length, espe cially after they have been in use washed several times, with the result that they fail to snugly fit the leg and tend to wrinkle, particularl in the regions of the welt, knee and ankle. Also, While such conventionally produced stockings may have adequate so that a stocking of given size properly and snugly fits a stout leg,'their contractile ability is so limited that when the same size stocking is placed'upon a slender leg it is bag y and gen-' erally unsightly in fit and appearance.

The present invention overcomes the objections to and disadvantages of the conventionally produced stocking by setting the several interknitted loops of the stocking fabric knitted of nylon or other such synthetic yarn into form in which they are so individually contracted and elongated that they result in the formation of a stocking of reduced diameter and increased length, this reduction in diameter being efifected solely by course-wise contraction of the knitted loops and without any decrease in the total number of wales or needle loops conventionally present in a stocking of a given size. Inasmuch as the contracted, elongated loops are individually extensible when subjected to course-wise pull to the same length and have been I course-wise stretch Serial No. 257,205

as that of the corresponding knitted loops of the conventionally produced stocking, it will be apparent that while the stocking of the present invention will have a course-wise elasticity much greater than that present in conventionally produced stockings and so will tend to snugly and comfortably fit without wrinkling even the slenderest leg, it nevertheless will have a course-wise stretch capacity adequate to insure its similar fit upon a stout leg.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more fully hereinafter, it being understood that the invention consists substantially in the construction of stocking as described in detail in the following specification, as shown in. the accompanying drawings and as finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which are illustrative of a preferred construction of a stocking constructed in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invention:

Figure l is a view showing in solid outline a conventionally produced stocking and in phantom outline the stocking of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view in enlarged scale of a portion of the knitted fabric of the conventionally produced stocking; and

Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Figure 2 showing the knitted fabric as it appears in the stocking of the present invention.-

The stocking of the present invention, which may be either of the full-fashioned type knitted upon the conventional straight or flat bar knit,- ting machine or of the seamless type knitted upon the conventional circular knitting machine, is preferably plain knitted and is preliminarily finished in the greige in the customary manner toprovide it with the usual welt l0, reinforced foot H and, i the case of the full-fashioned stocking, back seam l2 extending the full length of the stocking from the top edgeof the welt thereof to the tip of its toe.

The usual practice in the manufacture of stockings knitted of nylon or other such synthetic, thermoplastic yarns is to initially fit the stocking preliminarily finished in the greige over a boarding form to hold it without any appreciable stretching of the stocking fabric in the final shape desired for the stocking, and then, while still on the form, subject it to a presetting treatment to set the stocking to said shape. This presetting treatment ordinarily consists in subjecting the boarded stocking to the action of hot water or saturated steam at a temperature of about 226 F. and for a time suificientto set the stocking in the greige ,tial presetting step,

interknitted loops of the fabric into fixed form and shape, the interknitted loops being then relatively arranged, as shown in Figure 2, in the form of uniformly spaced courses of identical loops l3 which, in their relaXed state, are each so well rounded in shape that the course-wise width of the individual loop approximately equals the Wale-wise depth thereof. This preset shape of the individual stitch or loop of the knitted fabric is that which is generally present in all conventionally produced stockings knit of nylon yarn, the diameter of the stocking being determined by the number of needles employed in the knitting of the stocking fabric, 1. e., the number of such stitches or loops present in a single course of the stocking fabric.

In the conventional manufacture of nylon hosiery, after the above-described presetting step, the stockings are next removed from their shaping boards and are then scoured and dyed in suitable liquid baths, the temperatures of which range from 150 F. to 210 F., following which the stockings, when rinsed free of excess dyeing liquid, are subjected to a final boarding or setting operation by again placin them on boarding forms in which boarded condition they are again treated with steam or other suitable heating medium to iron out all distortions or wrinkles as may have been introduced into the stocking fabric subsequent to the initial presetting or preboarding step.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that the conventional procedure for finishin nylon hosiery involves three major steps, to wit, (1) preboarding and treating the stocking in the greige with hot water or saturated steam at a temperature ranging from just below to somewhat above water boiling temperature; (2) scouring, dyeing and rinsing at temperatures not exceeding water boiling temperature; and (3) reboarding and treating with water, steam or other suitable heating medium to eliminate wrinkles. Throughout all of this procedure the shape, form and size of the individual interknitted stitches or loops of the fabric are of a character determined solely by the knitting procedure, the presetting step serving simply to set the several stitches or loops of the fabric into proper relative position coursewise and Wale-wise of the fabric.

In accordance with the present invention, the

is subjected to an additional procedure immediately following the iniwhich additional procedure involves stretching the stocking Wale-wise and subjecting it while so stretched to heat, with or without pressure, sufficient to set the loops 13 into elongated form, as shown in Figure 3.

It will be noted by comparison of Figure 3 with Figure 2 that the stocking fabric, when treated in accordance with the present invention, is contracted coursewise and elongated Wale-wise, the result being the production of a stocking, as shown in phantom in Figure l and therein desig nated [5, which is considerably longer and substantially narrower than the conventionally produced stocking shown in full line in Figure 1 and therein designated M. It will be observed also that for a given size stocking, the total number of wales and courses present in the stocking processed in accordance with th present invention remains the same as in the conventionally produced stockings, the reduction in the diameter and the increase in length of the stocking resulting not from any decrease in wales: and increase of courses, but rather from elongation of the loops with concomitant decrease in their waledividual loop in said fabric is approximately the same as that of the corresponding loop of the originally knitted stocking fabric, with the result that the improved stocking designated [5 in Figure 1 is capable of being stretched to the same maximum circumferential dimension or diameter as is the conventionally produced stocking designated M in Figure 1. However, by virtue of the inherent tendency of the present loops to return to their relaxed condition it will be apparent that the stocking treated in accordance with the present invention will have a materially increased course-wise elasticity tending to contract it to a diameter which is substantially smaller than that of the conventionally produced stocking and so will insure a more snug and smoother fit of the stocking upon the leg of the wearer.

Preferably, the auxiliary step of presetting the stocking fabric to provide the desired elongated loop structure shown in Figure 3 is effected by placing the stocking while held in flat, stretched condition between the heated platens of an hydraulic press, the stocking being so subjected to a presetting temperature higher than that ordinarily employed for normal presetting of stockings made of nylon or other thermoplastic yarn, such temperature preferably ranging from 240 F. to 400 F., and applied for a time interval just sufiicient to permanentize the loops of the fabric into their desired Wale-wise elongated and coursewise contracted shape. Instead of permanentizing the loops in their elongated form by hydraulic press procedure, the stockings, after they have been initially preset, may be placed upon special forms designed to stretch the stockings each into the elongated, narrow form shown in phantom in Figure 1, and the so boarded stretched stockings may then be subjected to action of a suitable heating medium, for example, steam in an autoclave or heated air in a suitable heating chamher, at a temperature sufliciently high and for a period of time sufi'iciently prolonged to insure permanent setting of the stocking fabric into its elongated, narrowed form. Of course, any other suitable apparatus and/or method may be employed to permanentize the fabric loops or stitches into their Wale-wise stretched condition illustrated in Figure 3, the primary objective of the auxiliary procedure being to set the fabric into permanent form wherein its interknitted loops are stretched Wale-wise from their original preset length to a predeterminedly selected increased length (cf. b in Figure 2 and b in Figure 3) and are contracted course-wise (of. a in Figure 2 and a in Figure 3).

It will be understood, of course, that the present invention is susceptible of various changes and modifications which may be made from time to time without departing from the general principles or real spirit thereof, and it is accordingly intended to claim the same broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A stocking of the character described plain knitted from synthetic linear condensation polyamide yarns and having interknitted loops all of which are permanently set to increased walewise length and decreased course-wise width" as compared with the length and width of said loops formed upon the knitting machine. l

2. A stocking of the character described plain knitted of thermoplastic yarn to provide a main body fabric having interknitted loops arranged in successive courses thereof, the adjoining loops of each course being all permanently set in the fabric to increase the Wale-wise length of the stocking and to decrease the course-wise circumference thereof as compared with the length and circumference normally obtained by the operation of knitting the stocking.

3. A stocking of the character described having a main body portion knitted of thermoplastic yarn and comprising interknitted loops arranged in successive courses thereof, the adjoining loops of each course being all stretched and permanently set in the fabric to increase the length of the stocking substantially beyond that obtained by knitting the fabric on the knitting machine.

4. A stocking of the character described having a main body portion knitted of thermoplastic material and comprising interknitted loops arranged in successive courses, the adjoining loops of each course being all stretched and permanently set in the fabric to decrease the coursewise dimension of the stocking below that normally provided by the knitting machine.

5. A stocking of the character described having a main body portion knitted of thermoplastic 6 less than the length and width of the originally knitted corresponding loop, whereby to increase the course-wise elasticity of the fabric.

7. In a method of producing stockings knitted from synthetic polyamide yarns, the steps of stretching the knitted fabric of the stocking to substantially increase the Wale-wise length and substantially decrease the course-wise dimension of all of the interknitted loops of the stocking fabric, and of perinanentizing the stretched condition of the stocking by subjecting it to heat.

8. In a methodof producing stockings knitted from synthetic polyamide yarns, the step of presetting the knitted fabric of the, stocking with an aqueous medium at a predetermined tempera- I ture to permanentize the shape and relative position of all of the several interknitted loops of the fabric, in then stretching the stocking to substantially increase the Wale-wise length and substantially decrease the course-wise width of all of said loops of the fabric, and in thereafter subjecting the stretched stocking to a heating medium of a temperature higher than said firstmentioned presetting temperature to permanently set all of said loops to their increased Wale-wise length and decreased course-wise width.

CYRIL W. LIVINGSTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,157,116 Carothers May 9, 1939 2,157,119 Miles, Jr. May 9, 1939 2,343,351 Wedler Mar. 7, 1944 2,348,313 Smith, Jr. May 9, 1944 2,520,699 Sowerby et a1. Aug. 29, 1950 

